Jeffrey L. WilsonSlacker RadioSlacker Radio's deep music library, informative DJs and DNA stations, along with quality non-music content make the streaming audio service the big dog in a very crowded and competitive pack.

Slacker Radio's deep music library, informative DJs and DNA stations, along with quality non-music content make the streaming audio service the big dog in a very crowded and competitive pack.

Slacker Radio continues its reign as the premier streaming music service. PCMag's favorite music platform began life as the human-curated alternative to the pioneering, Music Genome Project-powered Pandora Internet Radio. Since then, however, Slacker has expanded to include news and weather updates, live ESPN radio, entertaining lifestyle channels, and well-conceived themed stations that are sure to delight music fans. The desktop streaming version of this music service lacks the lyrics found in its mobile apps, and a family plan, but apart from that it's a top-notch, well-rounded service that showcases what a streaming music platform should be in 2017.

Start Me Up

Slacker Radio offers three listening plans for music fans. With Slacker Radio's Free plan, you get 128Kbps audio, and the ability to skip a maximum of six songs per hour, but in exchange you have to endure numerous audio and banner advertisements. Subscribing to the $3.99 per month Radio Plus removes the ads and skip limitations, ups the bit rate to 320Kbps, and lets you cache stations for offline listening. The $9.99 Slacker Premium (which I tested for this review) builds upon the Plus tier by letting you create custom playlists, cache albums and playlists for offline listening, and play songs and albums on demand.

On-demand playback is easily the best reason to upgrade to a Plus or Premium account, as you'll no longer have to wait for Slacker Radio to serve up tracks. I simply keyed song titles into the search box and listened to my favorite tunes. Some songs, however, aren't available on demand because of licensing issues. Another gripe: you can't record music, as you can with SiriusXM Internet Radio, the Editors' Choice for streaming services focused on the live radio experience.

Sadly, Slacker Radio lacks a Family Plan, an attractive feature for multi-user households. Amazon Music Unlimited and Spotify one-up Slacker Radio, in this regard. It's one of my few complaints about Slacker.

You Got the Look

Slacker Radio has a panel-driven interface that's more than just eye candy, as it places a lot of information on the home page. Across the top is Recently Played, a section that lets you quickly return to one of the last four channels that you've visited. Just south of that is Today on Slacker, the main content area. There you'll find the latest Slacker Radio DJ picks, as well as recommendations based on tracks you've previously favorited or banned the service from playing again. It's a great way to discover music without firing up a song or digging through music categories.

For example, Alice In Chains is a Recommended Artist for me because I've favorited Nirvana songs in the past. Other panels that have caught my eye include '70s Rock, 35 Biggest Jerks In Music History, and Spotlight: Modern Jazz, all of which inspired me to click through to the corresponding stations. I really enjoy the DNA stations, channels hosted by music experts who play the tracks that influenced important artists. It's a music history class that services, such as Spotify and iHeartRadio, lack.

My one gripe with the interface is that a large number of panels are devoted to promotional tweets from Slacker Radio hosts and DJs, which feels out of place.

Magical Sound Shower

One way to begin your Slacker musical journey is by clicking a panel or scrolling to the top of the page, where you'll find a search box, Stations, and My Music. Stations has featured content, such as The 55 Nuttiest Artists; genre channels that include Comedy, Hip Hop Hits, and Big Band; and recommendations such as Great Songs You Forgot. My Music is where you find your playlists, custom stations, and recently played stations. Slacker Radio has dozens upon dozens of stations, so you're sure to find one of interest.

Slacker Radio has a deep catalog. It boasts Taylor Swift's "Look What You Made Me Do" single from her forthcoming Reputation album, as well as songs by other popular artists. If you're in the mood for killer guitar riffs from The Purple One, please note that Slacker Radio once again has Prince's library. It was a Tidal exclusive for a while, but has reappeared on Slacker after the artist's death.

In addition to its robust music collection, what gives Slacker Radio the edge over a lot of the competition is its non-music content. The company has carried news, live ESPN sports talk, updates from The Weather Channel, and lifestyles channels for some time, but Slacker Radio's relatively new partnerships with Nerdist, Rooster Teeth, and others are a welcome, geeky presence on the service.

As with SiriusXM Internet Radio's MySXM feature, Slacker Radio has sliders you can use to tweak playback metrics in the Related Artists, Favorite Songs, Popular Songs, and New/Older song categories. Unlike SiriusXM's MySXM, Slacker's sliders remain the same from station to station; they aren't customized for the stations. Still, the additional customization options open the door to more tightly crafted personalized stations.

As is common with these sorts of services, clicking the ban icon prevents a song or artist from appearing. Clicking the heart-shaped favorite icon, on the other hand, gives a song extra weight, causing Slacker to play it more frequently. You can also turn on and off Slacker's updates from DJs, ABC News, The Weather Channel, and ESPN. Unfortunately, the web browser-based Slacker Radio no longer has lyrics, which is a shame. You can find lyrics in Slacker Radio's Android and iOS apps, however.

Slacker Radio streamed crisp, hiccup-free audio at 128Kbps and 320Kbps (for the Free and Premium plans, respectively) in testing over both home and office network connections. Unless you're a serious audiophile, Slacker Radio's sound quality will satisfy even when the audio is pumped through desktop speakers. That said, if you demand nothing less than the best audio quality, Tidal is the service for you. Its $19.99 HiFi plan streams delicious, uncompressed 1,411Kbps FLAC audio.

Baby, I'm a Star

Slacker Radio's quality streaming audio, on-demand access, live ESPN sports talk, news, weather, and deep customization options make it the Editors' Choice among premium streaming audio services. Spotify, the ever-present challenger, falls short of snatching the crown due to its missing artists, lack of live radio and lyrics, and other omissions. A few minor complaints aside, Slacker Radio is a complete package that continues to reign over the streaming music landscape.

Slacker Radio

Bottom Line: Slacker Radio's deep music library, informative DJs and DNA stations, along with quality non-music content make the streaming audio service the big dog in a very crowded and competitive pack.

For more than a decade, Jeffrey L. Wilson has penned gadget- and video game-related nerd-copy for a variety of publications, including 1UP, 2D-X, The Cask, Laptop, LifeStyler, Parenting, Sync, Wise Bread, and WWE. He now brings his knowledge and skillset to PCMag as Senior Analyst.
When he isn't staring at a monitor (or two) and churning out Web hosting, music, utilities, and video game copy, Jeffrey mentors, practices Jeet Kune Do, blogs, podcasts, and speaks at the occasional con. He also collects vinyl and greatly enjoys...
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